Senior gift not a scam to get more money from graduating students, chairperson explains. Dear Fellow Graduating Seniors I would like to clear up a misconception that I have heard around our campus. The word is that the Senior Gift Fund is just another way for Penn State to get money from graduating seniors before they leave. Well, take it from me, if that were true I would not be the chair- person or even repre sent the committee. Those who know me, and you know who you are, can tell you that I have been against paying more money than we need to since day one, especially $2OO engi neering surcharges. The money that is donated to the Senior Gift Fund is used by the Senior Gift Committee to purchase and donate a gift to Penn State Harrisburg for use by future students. The committee is made up of graduation seniors, therefore the decision is What is value of Penn State name at bookstore? By Kelly Thomas Staff Reporter When it is that time of year for purchas ing books and supplies for classes, some of you may fret that big bill you must pay at the Penn State Bookstore. And at the end of the semester, some of you may fret again what the bookstore attendants tell you your books are worth for resale. There is nothing more irritating than spending more than $4OO on books for one semester and then get, at the most, $5O of that money back. It is also frustrat- ing to see that same book you paid $25, only receiv ing $1.50 back, resold for $lB after a used book sticker is slapped on the side of it. Does anyone else see a problem with this? Everything is overpr iced! A great example was brought up in the February 29 Capital Times issue. The TI-92, a Texas Instrument calculator, is being sold for $5O more than what it really should be sold for. Now how do they get away with doing made by the Class of 1996. What's that you say? Why should I give to the future students when I do not even know them? Did the previous students know who you were before you first set foot on Penn State Harrisburg soil ? Probably not, but they donated Senior Gifts that you use everyday. On May 11, you will become a Penn State Alumnus; and w hen someone asks you "Did you go to Penn State?", hopefully, you will be proud to say, "Yes I did!" So why not give a little to the future stu dents of Penn State Harrisburg. I am not asking for you to reach into your pocket and make a donation. All it takes is the donation of your General Account. What? You did not know you had a General Account. Well, when you sent your application to Penn State Harrisburg you attached $5O to it. that? If the Integration Club wants to sell this calculator to raise money for funds, especially for $5O cheaper than the bookstore's price, why not let them? I would probably understand if the "Penn State" label was on the calculator, since paying for the "Penn State" label is like paying for the Ralph Lauren Polo label. A mouse pad for a computer with the "Penn State' label on it costs $8.99, where a plain mouse pad with no name on it costs $2.99. One pair of white tube socks with the "Penn State" label costs 56.29, w here you could buy three pairs of plain tube socks for the same price Tiny footballs that we gave away for free at my high school cost $2.49 at the Penn State book- store. I guess because it has a Nittany lion on the side of it Talking about Nittany lions, a stuffed lion in the bookstore costs $6O where you could buy a stuffed animal twice as large somewhere That money became your General Account that is used to pay any library fines, health services charges and parking fines that you have at the time of graduation. Why not donate the remainder of your General Account to a worthy cause, the Senior Gift Fund. I will guaran tee you that it will be used for a student wor thy gift. So c heck "Yes, I will donate the remain der of my General Account" on your survey and put it in the mail or drop it by WllO. If you have misplaced you sur vey or have thrown it out because you did not care, stop by WllO and pick up another one. I f you have any questions about the Senior Gift, you can contact me through WllO. Thank you for your support Sincerely, Jeffrey C. Williams Senior Gift Committee Chairperson else for that same price. A five-subject notebook with the "Penn State" label costs $4.79. A plain, three subject note book costs $3.29. The tackiest tie with Nittany lions all over it costs $3O. I guess that explains why there were so many on the rack. Why spend $3O on a tie like that when you could go buy a nice silk designer tie for the same price. A pack of I 0 regu lar yellow pencils costs $l. One pencil with the "Penn State: label costs 49 cents. It costs $6.98 for a sport mug water bottle with the "Penn State" label. I bought a water bottle at Turkey Hill for $1 with free refills of soda and water. There are many more items that are over priced in the bookstore. There are just some exam ples to show that what I say is true. We are just college students, here to learn and get a good education, but i f you look at it terms of money, we are defi nitely paying for it! VIEWPOINT Bureaucracy 301 by J. Andrew Smith Contributor You're reading the words of a very angry man. I guess, if I sat back and took a deep breath (along with a couple draughts of beer), I'd rethink this commentary and realize that it means nothing to a society desperately infatuated with the bureaucratic system. We need to departmentalize and delegate, preserve order if tasks take forever to complete. In a bureaucratic system like Penn State, it is very easy to get the feeling that you are an inconvenience to the local desk jockeys or, at best, represent to them the down time between cof fee breaks and paychecks. The following is a terri ble, but all-too-common tale of bureaucratic wheel-spinning. In an attempt to get Penn State to release my grant money to me or make up their minds about my eligibility, I spent much of my time on campus in January and February visiting offices that clearly had no idea what was going on with my account. I had to describe my sit uation to a dozen different peo ple who were only partially responsible for keeping track of my academic file and less inter ested in me as a student than as a thing standing between them and a Snickers run down to the vending machines. Through this experience I've come to a few conclusions: There is no centralized office that deals with student accounts. Due to the fact that I had to con- Plan on being crowded when Plan for Commonwealth begins By Wendy Hess Contributor dent, you may be wonder ing exactly how the "Plan for the Commonwealth" is going to affect us here at Penn State Harrisburg, The Capital College. Well for starters, the population of our campus will grow by about 5000 students "Great" you may say, but this poses some problems. First of all the plan specifically says that "the plan must be accommo- dated within the existing physical plant (campus), plus those buildings that are currently approved by the legislature and are near the top of the priori ty list at Penn State (i.e., the new library). So, w here are 500 more students going to fit? We all know that there are some extra parking spaces in the lot, but are there 500? No, there are not. And if it snows, forget it! Our campus has housing capacity for approximately 585 stu dents, according to "People asking questions, lost in confusion. I tell them there's no problem, only solutions. Well, they shake their heads and they look at me, as if I've lost my mind I tell them there's no hurry - I'm just sitting here doing time." As a Penn State stu- —J. Lennon tact three different offices over a period of two months in order to sort out my particular mess, I have to conclude that communi cation between offices is some thing like the concept of electric ity to a group of cave-dwellers. The mantra of the bureaucrat is, invariably, "I don't know for sure." which means, of course, they haven't the foggiest blur of an idea, but don't want to sound stupid admitting it. "Let me get back to you" and "I'll have to check your file" are other favorites which translate, generally, into "I've got a break coming up so go away" and "I don't know and couldn't care less." These state ments are consolation phrases designed to give you the illusion that progress is actually being made while, in our reality, time is standing still. In all fairness, I can't blame the individuals in those departments. After all the bureaucrat is given about as much creative reign as an air traffic controller during a weath er reroute. The individuals with in merely serve as parts of the broken machine that seem to helplessly clunk through and knock against their useless rou tines until someone comes to fix the problem or they pull guns and go postal on the whole sys tem. Seriously, there is some thing very wrong with a system that allows someone to put a "hold" on your account, without so much as a reference to what or who should be contacted to solve the problem. Had the Housing Services. That's the dorms and Meade Heights together. Where will the new students stay if they all opt to live on campus? Will residency be determined by lottery or the highest bidder? Here's a scenario for you. It's 12:30in the Lion's Den, you get your lunch and although it's a worthless endeavor, you look for somewhere to sit. Darn? The 50 seats are already taken! Now pic - ture 500 students behind you looking for a seat. Scary, huh? Another aspect of the plan state that "growth in education and research funding from external grants is strong ly encouraged" and "exploration of external funding is encouraged" in regard to programmat ic and degree expansion. I don't know about you, but I don't want my pro fessors more concerned with their work and get ting published in order to obtain grants and funds, than teaching me. Will serving the students fall to the wayside under the new plan? Time will tell. CAPTIMES, April 23. 1996 Bursar's office been able to give me this very basic information, it would have cut a lot of time off the waiting and hunting. There is also something very wrong with a system that allows some one to remove a student file from the records office without a visi ble record of who had it, why and where it can be found. Much of my concern on the first day of this paper chase was due to the fact that "some one" had my student file "some where" but it couldn't be readily located. I find this very disturb ing and possibly a violation of my privacy (after all, who KNOWS who has my file. Is it missing? Stolen? Being exam ined by the CIA?) Some improvements in basic communication could go a long way in solving similar prob lems in the future. If set in motion today, the bureaucracy would have it set up just in time for my son to begin college.. . .about the year 2012. It comes down to the classic debtor/creditor relation ship. I am convinced that, if the money had been owed to them for tuition, my answer would have been found in less than a day, 36 hours tops. But because my grant was only intended to assist with my books, rent, and other living expenses (you know, peripheral luxuries), it took from December 10th, when my money was deposited by the Federal Government until the last week of February for someone to give me a simple answer to this question. Don't get me wrong, I 'm all for the growth of this campus. I think the more students, the better. The more stu dents a campus has, has much to do with how vibrant and alive it is. The more diverse the bet- ter. What I'm saying is that it's like being forced to gain weight but not given bigger clothes to wear. Fortunately, that new plan states "that new tuition generated by the campus... will be returned to the campus." That could mean (opti mistically) as much as an extra $2.5 million for our campus (if 1,700 more stu dents paid about $4,000 per year tuition, and of course pay the $25 stu dent fee). Hopefully that money will be used to expand the campus physi cally, and used to meet increased student needs. I'll have graduated by the time "Plan for the Commonwealth" comes into effect, but I'll be dri vin gp by to see where everyone parks when it snows.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers